


While we're floating here

by sinistercollyflower



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe, Astronauts, Boys in Space, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, WICKED | WCKD Is Not Good, bs biology, bs space sience, newt is tiered of this shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-01 13:51:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15775389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinistercollyflower/pseuds/sinistercollyflower
Summary: Who would have thought that being in close quarters with your crush on a space station while trying to get over them could be so stressful? Add the fact that he's pretty sure WCKD is lying to them about the nature of their mission in to the mix and.... No, Thomas's life isn't complicated at all, what are you talking about.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this was started after i talked @iamyourbloodydealer's ear off abt a space au and she fuckin made an amazing headcanon gifset for me. go check her out on tumblr, and her other blog @newtmas-headcanons

It had been fun the first month, floating around, throwing things up and never seeing them fall back down, pushing each other and bumping into stuff. They were like kids in an amusement park, mainly because they basically still were kids at 18 and 19, and this was pretty much the closest they'll probably ever come to an amusement park. Looking back on it Thomas thinks those were probably the happiest times of his life up until now.

Soon though, the novelty started to wear off. Life in a space station could actually get pretty boring, especially if you were the only two people in it. The work kept them busy, and they had that HBO satellite they leech off of a few hours a day while it’s in range and each other to keep entertained, but even that was a little bittersweet for Thomas. Being with Newt pretty much every hour of every day was like heaven, but having to constantly hide his feelings was becoming exhausting. Who would have thought that being in close quarters with your crush while trying to get over them could be so stressful?

It doesn’t help that his last analysis of his and Newt’s blood has turned up some…. Interesting results, to say the least, which have him doubting the purpose of their entire mission as well as WCKD’s intentions. After 6 months on a space station, their results have started turning up different, instead of identical like they should. What he thought were basic monthly health tests are starting to get more and more complicated and demanding, and Thomas suspects this mission isn’t what they were told it was at all. He hasn’t told Newt of this yet and he hasn’t reported his findings either, not knowing what to do about it. 

Newt is giving his report right now, in a live video conference with Janson, reporting on the repairs and improvements he was making to the station under the supervision of WCKD’s ground control. That was what their mission was originally supposed to be. Testing and improving a space station that could be lived in for longer periods of time. Newt was the engineer, the builder, the one who kept them alive by keeping the station together, and Thomas the medic, the doctor, the one who made sure they stayed alive by keeping them both healthy. Or so he thought. 

Newt comes out of the “interrogation room” as he’d often call it behind Janson’s back, and gives Thomas a wink as they pass each other, as if he’s encouraging him. Thomas isn’t sure what for, but it’s working. 

“Hello Thomas,” Ava Paige greets him warmly.

“Good evening Dr. Paige. It is evening, right?” he knows it’s evening where she is, he’s always in tune with the time difference between their onboard clock and the HQ. 

“It is, you’ve always been impeccable with time, Thomas. Now tell me, how are your findings for your physicals this month?” She says this in the exact same tone and phrasing that she did every month before, but today it has a different ring to Thomas. Today, it has a different meaning. So today, he will do something different. 

Today, Thomas makes a split-second decision, and tells her exactly what he told her every previous month. Today he lies.

“Pretty much the same as last month. Average blood pressure’s a bit high, but that could be attributed to that repair we had to do all last week, thus exerting ourselves more than usual right before I took both our pressure. Newt needed my assistance with it as you know, but our results are as close as they come, which is natural, given that we’re enduring the same circumstances.” 

Ava looks thoughtful for a second, then continues, “And the new tests we requested? What about them, and why haven’t you sent back the results?” 

It’s now that Thomas is on real thin ice. “I’m still evaluating the results, but I can tell you right now that they’re almost identical between the two of us, as I predicted,” he tells her. 

“What? Are you sure?” she asks, then seemingly catching herself, adds, “Thomas, there’s no need for you to evaluate the results or have predictions, that’s our job. Yours is record and report, understood?” she says in the closest thing to a warning tone Thomas has ever heard her use. 

“Yes doctor, I’ll send you the results right away, it won’t happen again.” He hurries to reassure her. Better smooth this over before it gets out of control.

“Good, make sure that you do. That’ll be all Thomas, keep up the good work,” she nods at him, “Dismissed.”

Thomas just nods his understanding before she disconnects. He slumps his shoulders. That was close, but he did get confirmation on a few things. He now knows that WCKD had expected the changes in Newt’s results, judging by Ava’s reaction when he told her there weren’t any, and second, they think Thomas is stupider than he really is. The same probably applies for Newt. Which is ridiculous considering they are prodigies in their respective fields and WCKD knows this. This outrageous underestimation gives him advantage though, and Thomas isn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Newt greets him with a cheerful “How’d it go mate?” When he exits the interrogation room, which he dismisses with a wave of the hand.

“Bad.” 

Ignoring Newt’s questions, he straps himself to his computer seat and gets to work. He has results to falsify. 

Thomas takes his own results, duplicates them, and then adjusts the parameters to match Newt’s specific physiology, as to not be identical to his own. He compares them to Newt’s last months’ results and adjusts them a little more to be convincing and consistent in the same way his own were. Finally, he compares it all and, when he’s satisfied enough with his handiwork, sends them off. 

Newt’s still there behind him when he turns around, looking at him quizzically. 

“Um, could I have a word with you?” Thomas asks in the vaguest way he can think of. Newt seems to understand though, because he unstraps him and drags him away to the airlock. 

Once they’re securely sitting between the two doors, he turns to Thomas. 

“This is the safest place on the station to talk. I checked.” He tells him, “Now, why were you falsifying my biometric results?” he asks, crossing his arms. Thomas gapes. “Oh come on Tommy, it doesn’t take a bloody genius to figure that out, and we both know that we pretty much are exactly that.” Newt scoffs.

“Very modest I see,” Thomas can’t resist sassing back, but shrinks under the older boy’s glare. “Okay okay, here’s the thing, your results came out different than mine this month.” 

Newt’s expression falls. “How’s that possible.” It’s not really a question, because it shouldn’t be. Thomas agrees.

“It shouldn’t be. We should have the same test results every month because we live, breathe and do the same exact things. The tests are even made that way so they should account for our genetic differences and a-null that variable but now I’m seeing some weird ass shit in the new tests I’m being sent. And that’s another issue, why are they requesting more and more complicated tests? I was supposed to only track our most basic health unless either of us had any visible symptoms, but now they want hemoglobin tests? That’s fishy.” 

“So you what, lied to WCKD? That’s bloody insane!”

“Exactly, and you know what that got me?”

“Trouble?”

“Confirmation.”

Now it was Newt’s turn to stare. “What do you mean by that.” He deadpans.

“I mean, when I told Dr. Paige your results hadn’t changed and that they were pretty much identical to mine, she seemed taken aback, like she was expecting something else.” He explains. “And to make matters worse, when I told her I was evaluating the results, she basically threatened me not to do that. Doesn’t that look like a huge red light to you?” 

Newt stands there for a moment, looking pensive. He’s hooked one leg in a handhold by his feet and his arms are still crossed, one thumb up to his mouth so he can worry the nail with his teeth. It baffles Thomas how he manages to be this expressive with his body language in zero-grav, but then again Newt has always been more nimble and adaptable than Thomas. He took to this floating business like a fish to water.

“Don’t do that,” he chides the older boy, going in to doctor mode.

“Oh shut up Tommy I’m not actually biting it,” he shoots back, but lowers the arm, “You’re sure that it’s my results that are the anomaly?” he asks, Thomas just nods, “Alright that’s pretty concerning,” He admits. “Maybe we should keep doing what we’re doing and see how WCKD will react. Keep feeding them false info and if they really have expected the varying results they’ll take action. But Tommy, you must realize this is incredibly risky.”

Thomas knows this, but he also knows Newt agreed to it uncharacteristically quickly. “You suspect something as well, don’t you?” he accuses, “Why would you know which room on the station isn’t bugged?”

“Assuming the rest really are.”

“My point still stands, you checked this one, you said it yourself.”

Newt sighs, “Yeah, I did. I’ve started suspecting a bit of foul play when my tasks became borderline pointless.” He admits. “Most of what I do is repairs, and apart from the installment of that new section that we hadn’t finished yet, which is in itself pointless because we don’t need it, I’ve got nothing significant to do. Despite constantly being told that I do, actually, do important work. My job was supposed to be testing out new technology, but the last new tech we got was 3 months ago, and they don’t seem to intend to send anything else anytime soon.”

“So we’re being duped.” Thomas concludes plainly. Newt just shrugs. “So what do we do? What you said about feeding them false info makes sense, but what’s our plan in the long run? We can’t just do nothing.”

“I think we should try to figure out what they want with us.” The older boy ventures, “By now it’s obvious that we’re the experiment and not the station, and we should try to find out why that is. I’ll check the rest of the station for recording devices, disable some of them and say they must’ve malfunctioned without me knowing if I get asked. If I don’t, that’ll only be more confirmation of foul play on their part. That way we can discuss in private without seeming suspicious in a bloody airlock.”

Thomas nods along. “And I’ll continue to do tests and work on the actual results myself, while sending the faked ones back. I may need to do some of my own tests to work out what’s happening, would that be okay with you?” he asks Newt, who smiles at him.

“Of course Tommy, you know I trust you.” He says warmly. It does things to Thomas that he really shouldn’t be feeling at a time like this.

“Okay!” he says maybe a bit too quickly, “So we have a plan of action?”

“I do believe we have a plan of action, Tommy.” Newt extends his hand, like he’s sealing a deal, and Thomas catches his forearm and holds on to him. 

They’ve started a mutiny. God help them.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next couple of weeks their suspicions were only further confirmed.

Newt had found various recording devices in most of the rooms on the station. The only one bug-free was the washroom and he disabled the ones in their respective quarters. It seemed that WCKD was prepared to let them have at least a modicum of privacy, but not much.

Thomas was on his part getting requests to re-do tests, check for specific levels and do completely new tests for his next report, which was moved up to twice a month now. The upside was that due to the nature of the requests he was getting, he now had a pretty good idea what to look for. The downside, he had less than half the time to figure it out.

“Tommy I’ve gotta go out, something malfunctioned on one of the outer panels.” Newt tells him in passing.

“Want me to stay on the line?”

“Of course, unless you want to come with.” 

They keep up their banter until Newt is outside and has found the damaged panel, which is when he goes quiet. 

“What’s up?” Thomas asks.

“That’s not right.” Is the only thing he gets back. Which is concerning to say the least.

“What? Newt, is everything okay?”

“Nothing Tommy, just a weird bug.” Newt shoots back, and his vocabulary is giving Thomas even more cause for concern. “I’ll get it done within the hour. Keep the line open, and play me some music, will you?” his tone is final so Thomas doesn’t ask any more questions and puts on some Nirvana. He’s guessing Newt wants to wait until they’re in private to tell him, if there’s something to tell at all.

They don’t talk until Newt gets back, at which point Thomas is startled by a loud “FUCK! Bloody hell!” from the storage area. He makes his way over there as fast as he can, only to find the older boy holding his right arm to his chest, still cussing quietly. 

“What happened?” he reaches for Newt’s arm.

“Just cut myself on some equipment while I was putting it away, it’s nothing bad but it huts like a bitch. I didn’t damage the suit or anything though, it’s fine.” Newt explains through his teeth.

“Fuck the suit, I have to patch YOU up!” he chides as he examines the damage, then orders, “Bathroom, now.” 

Newt grumbles something about “mother henning” but lets himself be helped along to the washroom with his arm still firmly pressed to his chest. Stains are forming on his shirt but he doesn’t seem to care that much. Once they’ve made it there and Newt’s secured in a relative sitting position, Thomas takes out one of his spare medkits and gets to work, hooking his ankles around Newt’s and pressing his knees on either side of him to stay in place. It’s not the most ideal position for his sanity but it’s the most secure one without having to use his hands so he soldiers on. 

“So what was so weird about that malfunction?” he asks as he takes Newt’s hand and starts cleaning the wound. It’s not bad, as newt said, but he’s nicked a pretty sensitive spot and it’s bleeding quite a bit.

“Remember how I said it was a weird ‘bug’?” Thomas nods. Newt pulls something out of his back pocket. “I wasn’t kidding.”

In his hand lies something that looks suspiciously like a large metallic mandible. It’s got hooks at the end and seems to have been ripped off. “The hell is that?” 

“I found it in the literal hole in the panel that I had to fix.” Newt tells him. “It was wedged between some cut wires. I’m pretty sure this was what cut them in the first place. There were scratches in the edge of the panel and the wires look cut, not ripped. I think it was supposed to look like the station was hit with some floating debris, but the wires fried it and it got stuck.”

“Well where the hell did it come from? And where’s the rest of it? Why the hell was it sabotaging our station and how did we not detect it up until now??” 

“Tommy I love your assertiveness but you need to slow down.” 

Thomas opens his mouth on a retort but then snaps it shut and glares to hide his blush when Newt’s words catch up to him. Newt just laughs and continues.

“Listen, I’m pretty sure we didn’t detect it because we weren’t supposed to.” He explains. “My guess is that this has a defense mechanism in place to disassemble and float off into space as to not be discovered when it becomes compromised. This bit just stayed in place because it got stuck, I’ve seen these kinds of things when I went snooping around the design department back on earth.” At this, Thomas looks up from his work on Newt’s arm. 

Newt scoffs, “Oh come on, don’t tell me you didn’t get curious as well.”

“Oh no, I did.” Thomas shakes his head “That’s not it. It’s just, this means that thing came from WCKD, doesn’t it?” 

“Where else would it come from? The fact that we didn’t detect it is only further confirmation!” 

“But why would they sabotage their own space station? That makes no sense!” he waves one hand in frustration and accidentally lets go of Newt in the process. “Shit!”

Newt, thankfully having good reflexes, catches him with his good hand before he can float away in his flailing. “Woah there.” He pulls Thomas in and hooks his legs around the younger boy’s thighs. “Where d’you think you’re going?” his hand lands on Thomas’s hip, “You weren’t done taking care of me, and I intend to enjoy every second of it.” He says with a sly smile. 

Thomas scoffs, “Oh shut up, you don’t mean that.”

“I do and you love it.” Newt gets a glare for that one. “Anyway,” he continues like nothing happened, “there’s no doubt in my mind that WCKD are behind this, they must have a reason for it. Maybe they only want to keep me busy or something.” 

“But it only took an hour.”

“It took an hour because I did a quick temporary patch job in order to get back quick and tell you about it. The real repair might even demand requesting materials to be sent up, and that’ll keep me busy for quite a while.” Newt explains. 

Thomas frowns down at the bandage he’s just finished securing. “Ok but I’m not letting you out of the station for at least two cycles. Doctor’s orders.” He commands. Newt laughs merrily.

“Alright Tommy, you won’t see me complaining.” He says with that fond smile that just puts a cog in all of Thomas’s brain function and damn, he really needs to stop doing this to himself. 

“I need to take a blood sample from you.” He says to distract himself, taking out a syringe and needle. “I want to do a foreign body test on both of us.” He adds for explanation, but Newt’s still looking at him curiously. 

“Hey,” his legs tighten around Thomas, thumb moving in a soothing back and forth pattern on his hip, “is everything okay? What’s up with you?” his tone is genuinely concerned and Thomas is so fucked, it’s not even funny.

“Nothing,” he takes Newt’s hand off his hip and rolls his sleeve up to take his blood. “just this whole situation. It’s just frustrating.” He lies. Newt doesn’t buy it. 

“Are you sure it’s just that?” he asks, and then, “Tommy, I can back off if you want.” And it’s a good thing Thomas is done with taking his blood because he drops the syringe.

“W-what?” he stares at Newt as the syringe floats off to his right. The other boy sighs. 

“Come on Tommy, I refuse to believe you’re that oblivious.” He plucks the piece of disinfected cotton wool out of Thomas’s other hand and presses it to the puncture wound from the syringe. “I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable. So tell me if I should stop.” He says to his own forearm quietly.

“That’s not- I’m not oblivious, that’s not it. I just- I couldn’t let myself-“ he cuts himself off. Newt looks up at him. 

“What? Couldn’t let yourself what?” 

“HOPE!” Thomas all but shouts, “I couldn’t let myself hope, Newt, because we’re the only two people on this godforsaken piece of metal floating in space and that does things to you. Mentally. Sexually. We’re teenagers and we have hormones. Trust me, I know, I had to study the human body for most of my life. So excuse me for attributing both of our behavior to that because I’m just a little too afraid of what happens when we get back.” He realizes he’s started to gesticulate wildly again when Newt catches his hands. 

“Listen,” the older boy begins, “I’m no doctor but I’ll tell you what I know, and don’t know.” He intertwines their fingers. “I know this isn’t a new development for me. I know that I’ve had this… thing for you way back on earth, before we were even selected for this mission. I know that we’re being manipulated and I don’t want to be… a puppet. We have very little control over our own lives, and I’m hanging on to one of the last things that I feel like I can call mine. And that is this-“ he gestures between them with their intertwined hands “trust that we’ve built over the years.” Thomas just stares at him in astonishment. 

Newt sighs, “And there’s one thing I don’t know, which is whether I’m coming back to earth at all.”

Thomas opens his mouth to protest but Newt cuts him off. “No, Thomas, we both know it’s the truth. We’ve gotten ourselves into something extremely dangerous and the consequences are completely unknown. Not to mention that I’m obviously faring far worse than you. Do you know why I cut myself when I came back?” Thomas shakes his head. “I lost my grip while I was pushing something back in it’s place and landed on one of my sharper tools because I was exhausted. From one hour-long trip outside, Tommy. That’s not bloody normal and you know it. So don’t give me any bullshit now. Just tell me what you want.” He finishes, slightly out of breath. 

Thomas tries to say something several times, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. “I’m not-“ he tries, “I don’t- I don’t know…” 

Newt seems to deflate. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to push you into anything. I’m just- well now you know where I stand. All I ask of you is to think about it.” He smiles a little sadly at Thomas and pushes him away gently. “I’m gonna go change, this shirt’s ruined,” and with that he leaves Thomas alone in the silent bathroom.

**Author's Note:**

> catch me on tumblr @enderham i might post updates and shit there.   
> also there's an additional chapter there that i haven't posted here yet ;)


End file.
